The unique sonic realm that Echtra has traveled within on recent offerings is recapitulated here: ever-present acoustic guitars lay the foundation for contemplation, with arpeggios droning, facilitating the loosening of rationality. Murky, indistinct electric guitars travel spidery trails, interweaving and diverging to speak an arcane language of grief, confusion, and triumph. Keyboards, electronic drums, and sparsely delivered vocals give texture and depth to the proceedings, whispering the futility of materialistic interpretations for understanding. The familiar terrain of the doom and black metals is traveled again, with the emphasis on the utilization of these sonorous forms for the immersion of consciousness in Truth. Physical release finally sees its light after 10 years of the original live performance! For Fans of: Wolves in the Throne Room, The Body, Sunn O))).

"Echtras Paragate", an essay of origins, is a psycho-physiological journey into the Otherworld. This aural chronicle of the souls flight from corporality issues from the Land before spiraling down into the heart of Earth, in the process loosening the stranglehold of dislocation modern humans labor under. Echoes of the Hunter stalking the prey of meaning ring out in the caverns of Spirit while arcane dances commence by the fireside; the chthonic depths offer their healing flame to our essence. After plumbing the lengths of these tunnels he is risen to the Heavens, taking flight in order to fully embody the liberty written in our blood. Above and Below make love in the flesh of the Seeker, engorged with breath and bearing the weight of the sweetest fruit. Obliterating genre conventions in favor of the creation of an immersive soundworld, "Echtras Paragate" integrates the distortion and vigor of Black Metal sonics with the resolve and earthiness of acoustic songcraft. Arpeggios swirl in etheric spirals, augmenting and negating each other in a dance of intimateness, rhythms altering and disappearing altogether as they herald of the stations of the Seekers peregrination. Chronicled in the long ago of MMVI, performed Yule MMVII, and now issued on CD from the dark of Winter MMXI by Echtra & Temple of Torturous, as dictated by the Spirits and for the benefit of all beings. This rite of transits facilitates rest, a trust in the truth of Life. ".for only by becoming completely and totally gone are we to be found."- 4pp digisleeve on heavy black carton (Keaykolour Antique, 350gsm)- Printed with dark gold ink- Debossing made on band logo as well as some texts

Echtras "Sky Burial," the first issuance in the triumvirate of the Passage Cycle, is an exploration of the dissolution of our mortal coil. If human consciousness recognizes the inescapability of its own demise, then an essential aspect of becoming truly human is grappling with the inevitability of our own death. This is what Echtra has sought with the "Sky Burial" project, attempting at the same time to create an aural and visual space in which others may do the same. Influenced by the Vajrayanas cosmological views on the passaging of consciousness between lifetimes, and utilizing the sonic palette of acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, drums, and vocals, this project is undoubtedly Echtras most fully realized manifestation thus far. Aesthetic echoes of doom and black, acoustic arpeggios driving spirit into form, sparse vocalizations uttering the manifesto of an unqualified acceptance of eventual transformation: these are some of the tools employed in service of the souls embrace of a body consumed by the winged ones.For the first time, audial documentation has been augmented by video, depicting the one and only performance of "Sky Burial," offered on December 19th, 2008, as the final offering of the first night of the Spire: A Twilight Language Yule gathering in Olympia, Washington, USA. Echtra was joined for this performance by Lina McLean, Johnny Delacy, and Steve Joyner/CoRE. The video footage from this live performance has been licensed for this release from Adam Torruella.Written and recorded in the long ago of Litha MMVII, and mastered by Mell Dettmer near Lughnasadh MMXII, it is now issued by ToT for the benefit of all beings.